This disclosure is directed to magnetic recording disk system having a head-per-track subsystem or assembly. The older prior art in this field has comprised what is known in the art as a slider supporting between 9 to 18 recording heads. The slider is then mounted to position the heads for reading and writing on the tracks of the disk.
The primary disadvantage of the older prior art is the size of the slider required to hold each of the individual heads. As the recording density increases, the slider must fly over the disk at increasingly lower altitudes. Since it is not economically feasable to hold relatively large surfaces extremely flat, the older prior art method becomes impractical for recording densities beyond a certain point.
A more recent prior art approach has resulted in a rather massive assembly or block with individual subassemblies mounted on it. This more recent structure has been found to cause capacitance related problems at the current high frequency recording rates as well as alignment difficulties.
In view of the foregoing, there has developed a need for a simpler more compact structure which could easily and economically maintain the heads flat with respect to the disk as well as reduce capacitance problems, thus allowing the use of higher recording frequencies.
The present invention in the most preferred form provides the above advantages by the use of a serpentine gimbal spring which holds a plurality of multihead sliders in a prescribed relationship. The sliders are held firmly in a common plane for purpose of interlace control and are free to move perpendicular to the plane and gimbal about axes in the plane to provide correct flying in operation.